Monday, August 20, 2012

I'm slowly but surely getting my life back in order now that Little Des is seven months old. But if it weren't for my fellow blogger JOpinionated launching the most awesome charity auction of all time on 8/15 (LOST Day, of course), who knows when I would've finally gotten this post up!

So here's the deal: Jo and her producing partner Jared Wong founded Cancer Gets LOST, a charity event that benefits the National Brain Tumor Society 100%. As in, every single cent raised from their auction, live webcast and party is going to the NBTS. Jo's dear friend Jackie passed away this month after a four-year battle with brain tumors and cancer, and I can't think of a better, more wonderful way to help keep Jackie's memory and spirit alive.

Jo and Jared have gone ABOVE AND BEYOND in pulling this thing together. I mean, I really urge you to browse through the CGL site on your own, but here are a few spoilers: they got everyone from LOST co-creator Damon Lindelof to Jorge Garcia (Hurley) to not only help promote the cause but also sign and contribute incredibly cool and rare items for the auction. A LOST Pilot script signed by Damon and the one and only JJ Abrams? Check. The musical score to Locke's mind-blowing "Walkabout" flashback, signed by LOST composer Michael Giacchino? Check? Props from the show? Check, check check! You get the idea, right? And there's actually a lot of great stuff from other popular TV series as well. I'm not going to do it all justice—you just have to promise me you'll scroll through all of the 250+ items (and counting!) yourself, m'kay? And if you simply want to contribute to Cancer Gets Lost without bidding on anything, there's a way to do that, too. Just contact Jo or Jared and they'll help you out.

The online auction will remain open until 8/29. There's also a live charity webcast this Saturday, August 25 from noon - 4 p.m. PST, and I'll direct you to all of the info for that event here. Let's just say some very familiar faces are going to pop up on the stream and you'll definitely want to tune in!

And finally, if you live in or near Los Angeles, you need to get your behind to the Cancer Gets LOST party this Saturday evening, August 25, for a chance to hang out with the LOST fan community once again. Details are here.

OK! Geez, I hope after all that I've convinced you to go check out the auction. Swear on The Island that you will! You really don't want to anger Smokey, now do you?

Let me know if you end up being the highest bidder for anything and I'll do the same in a future post. If it's not already extremely obvious, I am just so thrilled that the LOST community has pulled together to support Jo and Jared and their cause in this touching way. If that doesn't scream from the mountaintops how special the series was, is, and will always continue to be, I don't know what else could.

NOW... onto announcing the most recent LOST Thought contest winners. Since I made you guys wait so long, I added a winner to the mix. Here are the four randomly selected new owners of LOST Thought and the scene that's stuck with them most from the series:

Dave Murray:

"On the evening of May 3, 2006, I was up by myself watching Lost in the dark while the rest of the family slept.

Michael: "I'm sorry"
Ana Lucia: "Sorry for what?"

My mouth opened and I raised my arms over my head.

Libby: "Michael?"

I stood up.

L O S T

Frozen,
standing up with mouth open and arms raised. In time I sat down and
lowered one arm to reach the remote and play back the last recorded
minute."

Damn.

Elizabeth Koelle (Kindle):
"Wow, there are so many, it's hard to choose just one! I lost track of
how many jaw-dropping scenes there were. But to this day, I think of
Claire and Charlie whenever I have peanut butter, so the scene where
Charlie offers Claire the imaginary peanut butter still makes me smile.
:)"

Mmm.

Alyssa:

"That scene in Deus Ex Machina really set this show apart from all the others; SO powerful!

But
I have to say the moment that sticks with me to this day is when
Charlie writes on his hand: Not Penny's Boat. That moment has so much
building up to it: Desmond will finally see Penny! All the problems are
solved! They'll get off the island!

Charlie is such a beloved
character, and his sacrifice, the music (oh, the music!), the
cinematography... all of that building to what was a huge shocker for
me. That image of his hand on the glass—it gets me!"

So tragic!

AND

Jennifer:

"My "most memorable" (and it doubles as most favorite") scene was Desmond
and Penny speaking on the phone in "The Constant." I loved that the
entire episode wasn't linear, and that we got to learn so much of their
back story. I remember trying to explain it to a friend the next day,
and I know I sounded crazy! Time jumping...consciousness shifting...! I
was also swearing that it was the most amazing episode yet (and I still
believe that)! Years later, I eat up the idea of time travel and
timeline hopping by getting my regular dose of "Fringe"! But man, do I
miss LOST."

Brilliance.

If you're one of the winners, please leave a comment below (or contact me through Facebook or Twitter if we're connected there) and let me know your email address so I can get in touch with you. I will not publish the comments you leave with your email addresses, so no worries there.

Thanks to all who participated! You can read through everyone's memories here—I promise you it's worth a few minutes of your time. And if you didn't win, remember that you can get your LOST fix through LOST Thought, edited by Pearson Moore, via paperback or Kindle. I've liked hearing from people who enjoyed my joint-chapter with Jo—keep those comments comin'!

Alright, that's enough for today, but guess what? I'm going to be back soon because I'm interviewing a couple of LOST fans that put even my fandom to shame. So stay tuned for that and best of luck securing some great items in the Cancer Gets Lost auction!